Acupuncture

The University Health Center has provided acupuncture services for the past 12 years for students, faculty and staff of the campus. Acupuncture is among the oldest healing practices in the world. As part of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture aims to restore and maintain health through the stimulation of specific points on the body by penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metal needles.

During the first visit, the practitioner may ask you about your health conditions and lifestyle. The practitioner will want to obtain a complete picture of your treatment needs and behaviors that may contribute to your condition(s) and wellness. Inform the Acupuncturist about all treatments or medications you are taking and all medical conditions you have. Also be sure to tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

People experience acupuncture differently, but most feel no or minimal pain when the needles are inserted. Some people feel energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Treatments are one hour in length and a course of treatment may take place over a period of several weeks or more.

Acupuncture in the United States

According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey an estimated 8.2 million U.S. adults had ever used acupuncture, and an estimated 2.1 million U.S. adults had used acupuncture in the previous year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates Acupuncture needles for use by licensed practitioners, requiring that needles be manufactured and labeled according to certain standards. For example, the FDA requires that needles be sterile, nontoxic, and labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only. Relatively few complications from the use of acupuncture have been reported to the FDA, in light of the millions of people treated each year and the number of acupuncture needles used.

Treatment Costs

The University of Maryland student health insurance plan, United Health Care, covers the full cost of Acupuncture. If you do not have this plan, check with your insurer before you start treatment to see whether Acupuncture is covered and, if so, under what conditions and to what extent. (For more information, see NCCAM’s fact sheet Paying for CAM Treatment at nccam.nih.gov/health/financial/.) If you do not have the UM student health insurance plan, treatment cost is $60 per visit for students and $75 per visit for faculty and staff; it can be paid at the time of service or billed to your account in the Bursar’s Office. Upon request, the UHC can provide you with a statement to submit to your health insurance plan.

Please note that a one-hour appointment time is reserved just for you. If you miss your appointment or fail to cancel within 24 business hours of your appointment time, you will be charged a $25 fee, which is not covered by your student insurance plan. To schedule or cancel an Acupuncture appointment, call the appointment line at 301-314-8184 or schedule online at www.myuhc.umd.edu.

For More Information

NCCAM CLEARINGHOUSE AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHThe NIH, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) Clearinghouse provides information on CAM, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature. The Clearinghouse does not provide medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals to practitioners.Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-888-464-3615Web site: nccam.nih.govE-mail: info@nccam.nih.gov

PUBMED®A service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), PubMed contains publication information and (in most cases) brief summaries of articles from scientific and medical journals. CAM on PubMed, developed jointly by NCCAM and NLM, is a subset of the PubMed system and focuses on the topic of CAM.Web site: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrezCAM on PubMed:nccam.nih.gov/camonpubmed/

CLINICALTRIALS.GOVClinicalTrials.gov is a database of information on federally and privately supported clinical trials (research studies in people) for a wide range of diseases and conditions. It is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Web site: Web site: www.clinicaltrials.gov

Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of MedicineThe University of Maryland School of Medicine, Center for Integrative Medicine was founded in 1991 and has received over $30 million in NIH grants in 14 years. It is the first U.S. academic medical center-based program for integrative medicine in the U.S., with programs in education, research, and clinical care.Web site: www.compmed.umm.edu